Trump Chickens Out on Greenland After Markets Flinch
Bulwark Takes
The Bulwark
4.7 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sam Stein and Catherine Rampell give their takes on Trump backing off his threat to occupy Greenland after the markets flinched, calling the "concept of a deal" a victory, when it's really just the status quo being restored.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, everybody. It's me. Sam Stein, joined by Catherine Rampel for yet another Greenland edition of a bulwark take. |
| 0:09.2 | At least this time, we have real tangible news, I suppose. I hope so. |
| 0:13.6 | I'll be honest. I think so. It's kind of what I expected, kind of what everyone I think probably should have expected. |
| 0:19.4 | You can call it a taco. You can call |
| 0:21.5 | art of the deal. You can find yourself somewhere in the middle. But Trump has decided that we've |
| 0:26.3 | hit some sort of arrangement that's satisfactory to him. Concepts of an arrangement. |
| 0:32.8 | I should have, I should have qualified you. Concepts of a deal. Yeah. That's his wording, not mine. |
| 0:54.9 | I'll read the truth. And then I'll let Catherine give us the real truth. Here it is. Based upon a very productive meeting I have had with Secretary General of NATO, Mark Root, we have formed the framework of a future deal. I don't know what that actually means. With respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic region, the consubated, will be a great one for the United States of America and all NATO nations. |
| 0:59.0 | Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs or schedules go into |
| 1:02.8 | effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning the Golden Dome as it |
| 1:07.2 | pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress, yada, yada, yada. |
| 1:12.4 | All right. |
| 1:13.5 | All right. |
| 1:14.4 | We end up basically, I think, where we started. |
| 1:17.1 | We'll get to the NATO statement in a second because that does sort of confirm we're in a status quo. |
| 1:21.3 | But, Catherine, is this taco or is this like five-dimensional chess? |
| 1:26.3 | It's definitely not chess or board games of any kind. |
| 1:32.4 | I guess it's taco. |
| 1:34.0 | I mean, if you look at markets the last few days, |
| 1:37.1 | they should have chastened this administration, |
| 1:40.8 | both bond markets, like bond prices skyrocketing. |
| 1:45.8 | You know, Trump was trying to not that long ago get mortgage rates down by buying mortgage |
... |
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